The paper is devoted to modeling the factors of foreign policy decision-making processin the US Congress. It is based on the analysis of data on Russia-related bills proposedin the period from 2010 to 2022. The factors influencing the likelihood of a bill'sadoption were identified and organized into three large groups: institutional, procedural,and substantive. These factors were systematized and arranged into a conceptual modelin the form of decision tree, structuring the process of foreign policy decision-makingwith respect to Russia. Using examples of sanctions bills from the 2010s, the discussionof sanctions bills demonstrates that the immediate topic of containing Russia is notsufficient for Congress; the passage of sanctions bills is only possible when there areconjunctive public, partisan, and private interests. The paper demonstrates how muchCongress' foreign policy decisions are influenced by domestic political factors. It isassumed that this model will allow researchers to assess and predict the outcome of thediscussion of the foreign policy agenda in Congress not only in relation to Russia, butalso in relation to other countries.